In a second bowl, mix the buttermilk and melted butter (or oil) together. Separate the eggs setting the whites aside to fold in later and add only the yolks to the buttermilk and butter mixture. Take about 20 seconds and blend this mixture into the dry ingredients. Finally, in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites that you set aside until they form stiff peaks and fold them into the mixture.

Heat up your griddle and pour about a quarter cup of the mixture for each pancake leaving enough space for them to expand. Turn them when the bubbles on the top surface pop and don’t fill in. The second side takes only half the amount of time needed to cook the first.

Welcome to Goat Town! All things goat in the heart of Vermont. Known for hill farms, small manufacturing and strong community, this Central Vermont area is home to a group of entrepreneurs whose creative businesses all revolve around goats.

Fat Toad Farm is excited to announce that they received a 2019 Good Food Award for their Vanilla Bean Goat’s Milk Caramel Sauce. The nation’s leading food producers, grocers, chefs, journalists and activists united in San Francisco on Friday, January 11th to honor the 220 Good Food Award winners. An annual awards ceremony now in its ninth year, the Good Food Awards recognizes American food and drink creators who demonstrate a commitment to creating tasty, authentic and responsibly made products and in doing so, better the nation’s food system. Each of the 2019 winners demonstrates both a mastery of their craft and a commitment to maintaining exceptionally high social and environmental standards in their work.

Their Vanilla Bean Goat’s Milk Caramel Sauce is made with 4 simple, all-natural ingredients (goat’s milk from Ayer’s Brook Goat Dairy and Vermont Creamery, pure cane sugar, baking soda, and whole vanilla beans) and is meticulously hand-stirred to velvety perfection over the course of 5 hours. The result of this traditional cooking process is a rich and creamy, not-too-sweet caramel that delivers an irresistibly complex flavor. Their award-winning product line of goat’s milk caramel sauces, comprised of eight mouthwatering flavors (Original, Salted Bourbon, Cold Brew Coffee, Spicy Dark Chocolate, Vanilla Bean, Vermont Maple, Cinnamon, and Irish Whiskey Cream), can be found online at www.fattoadfarm.com and in local specialty food stores and across the United States.

This year, the Good Food Awards distinguished value-added food and beverage products in sixteen categories (beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, cider, coffee, confections, elixirs, fish, honey, oils, pantry, pickles, preserves, snacks, spirits). The 2019 winners yield from 34 states and D.C., emerging to the top amongst 2,035 entries in a blind tasting with 262 judges held in September. The highest scoring entries were submitted to a rigorous vetting process to verify they met the sustainability and social responsibility criteria to win a Good Food Award.

The gala Award Ceremony began with a glass of sparkling cider from winner Liberty Ciderworks and ended in an affirmation from Director Sarah Weiner of why, at this particular moment in time, the work of the 220 winners – each one a talented artisan, local business owner and sustainability advocate – is so important:

“Through your very existence – by growing and thriving and continuing on through seasons of boom and bust – you show everyone that America’s appetite for truly good food is here to stay. At a time when the message of ‘us versus them’ grows louder, you quietly yet firmly send a different message about how this country works and what we value. Every day – through the choice to protect our land and waters, to pay fairly and transparently, to build community wellness alongside your businesses – you say ‘all of us or none of us.”

About Fat Toad Farm

Fat Toad Farm is a family-run business in Brookfield, Vermont that specializes in the production of goat’s milk caramel sauce, based on the traditional Mexican confection known as cajeta. It is run by husband and wife team Steve Reid and Judith Irving, and their daughter Calley Hastings. The family has spent the last eleven years perfecting the art of goat’s milk caramel making, focusing on traditional cooking methods and using a small number of fresh, simple, all-natural ingredients. For more information, visit www.fattoadfarm.com.

About the Good Food Awards

The Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsible. Now it its ninth year, awards will be given to winners in 16 categories: beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, cider, coffee, confections, elixirs, fish, honey, oil, pantry, pickles, preserves, snacks and spirits. The Good Food Awards Seal, found on winning produces assures consumers they have found something exceptionally delicious that also supports sustainability and social good.

For the batter:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well until incorporated. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

For the filling:
Chop apples into bite sized cubes and mix together with Fat Toad Farm Goat’s Milk Caramel.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat a large saute pan and then add butter. Dredge the bread in the batter and place in the pan. Cook until golden brown on both sides, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool. Divide filling between 2 pieces of the bread top with the remaining 2 pieces of bread. Transfer French Toast to oven and bake for 8 minutes.